At what point is a cultural practice that appears to be ‘submission’ to an outsider, in fact better understood as ’empowerment’ to an insider? These are awkward questions, even for world renowned feminist scholar Professor Anne Phillips, of the London School of Economics.  

Prof Phillips has written extensively on the issue of women, gender and culture. Whilst clearly an advocate for recognising women’s agency, above and beyond assuming women are “captives of (their) culture”, she is also quick to remind us that gender relations “involve constraints”. 

This week at BroadAgenda we were delighted when Prof Phillips, who is briefly visiting Australia, dropped in for an interview. Today, in the 2nd instalment of our 3 part-series, she discusses the tensions between women, culture and multiculturalism, with BroadAgenda’s Chief Editor, Virginia Haussegger.